UKTeX V89 #07 Friday 17 February 1989
IBM 3812 DVI driver for the IBM PC
Help now in Danish, too
Re: UK-TeX V89 #06
Font useage on HP LaserJet+ type printers.
Postscript.
DvitoVdu
GF-to-PK change file for VAX/VMS wanted...
Missing SliTeX Fonts
DVITTY
The aston.last30days files
Editor Peter Abbott
Sorry for the duplicate copy last week the system fell over in the middle
of the distribution and I could not tell how far it had run. The only safe
option was a restart from the beginning.
It has been necessary to revert to the supported software for Colour Book
Mail as the site database was out of date and there was no way that it
could be updated. As a result the STREAM_LF problem is now affecting the
mail service as well as the FTP service. There exists a group (full details
will be in the next Tugboat) who are trying to improve the facilities. We
are meeting on February 28 and one of the agenda items will be `temporary
fixes to overcome the stream_lf problem).
A user has just requested the latest Washington tape and the following was
in the accompanying letter
...The frequency of availability of TeX tapes is getting a bit much for me.
I hope that there is a good reason for this new release, and that the next
will be at least six months hence....
Washington supply me with tapes on a regular basis of approx three month
intervals or if there are major changes. All I know from the correspondence
is that TeX is either (or nearly) 2.96.
Latest TeXhax in the Archive is #08
Latest TeXmag in the Archive is V2N6
---------------------------------
Date: 10-FEB-1989 11:25:31
From: TEX@UK.AC.CRANFIELD.RMCS
Subject: IBM 3812 DVI driver for the IBM PC
Sender: JANET"TEX@UK.AC.CRANFIELD.RMCS" <TEX@UK.AC.CRANFIELD.RMCS>
Message-Id: <000027C3_0006391C.009202AF7A661AC0$12_1@UK.AC.CRANFIELD.RMCS>
Originally-to: JANET%"info-tex@uk.ac.aston",JANET%RMCS::TEX
Originally-from:TEX "RMCS TeX Account"
Mailer: Janet_Mailshr V3.2 (27-Oct-1988)
I'm about to be given a "spare" IBM 3812 Pageprinter to replace an Epson
FX-1000 on the office IBM PC system. As usual the 3812 will come with no
documentation, so I don't know much about it! I've seen back issues of
TeXhax (1988, #5, 21, 30 & 37) referring to METAFONT mode_def settings for
the 3812, so it must be feasible to use it as a TeX output device.
Can anybody tell me whether there is an IBM PC based DVI driver for the
3812? I'd be willing to look at 3812 drivers designed for other systems to
see if I can graft the font downloading parts onto the Beebe DVI driver
set.
All responses /advice will be gratefully received !
C. Niel KEMPSON
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Slow (but reliable) Mail: | Telephone: Swindon (0793) 785687 |
| School of Elec Eng & Science, | International: +44-793-785687 |
| Royal Military College of Science,| |
| Shrivenham, SWINDON, | E-mail |
| SN6 8LA, | JANET: tex@uk.ac.cranfield.rmcs |
| United Kingdom | |
`----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
---------------------------------
Via: vulcan. (vulcan.ARPA); Fri, 10 Feb 89 13:49:01 GMT
Received: by vulcan. (4.0/SMI-4.0)
id AA00286; Fri, 10 Feb 89 13:47:45 GMT
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 89 13:47:45 GMT
From: alien@uk.ac.essex.ese.vulcan (Adrian F. Clark)
Message-Id: <8902101347.AA00286@vulcan.>
Subject: Help now in Danish, too
The mail-server will now supply help in Danish as well as Italian.
And I think it gives help in English, too.
Adrian F. Clark
JANET: alien@uk.ac.essex.ese
ARPA: alien%uk.ac.essex.ese@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk
BITNET: alien%uk.ac.essex.ese@ac.uk
Smail: Dept. of Electronic Systems Engineering, Essex University,
Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex C04 3SQ, U. K.
Phone: (+44) 206-872432 (direct)
---------------------------------
Date: 13-FEB-1989 11:15:15 GMT
From: CHAA006@UK.AC.RHBNC.VAXB
Subject: Re: UK-TeX V89 #06
Sender: JANET"CHAA006@UK.AC.RHBNC.VAXB" <CHAA006@UK.AC.RHBNC.VAXB>
Message-Id: <20600EAD_000BA05C.0092050987C47700$8_1@UK.AC.RHBNC.VAXB>
Originally-to: $UK-TEX
Originally-from:CHAA006 "Philip Taylor (RHBNC) <P.Taylor@Uk.Ac.Rhbnc.Vaxb>"
Mailer: Janet_Mailshr V3.3a (02-Feb-1989)
Robin Fairbairns asked about interpolating the CM-series, and RNOtoTEX;
John Sauter of the Digital Equipment Corporation carried out the development
work on the interpolation algorithm (it also extrapolates, but not too
reliably), and it can be found in various places in the archive:
[Public.Sauter]
[Public.Unix_30_01_89.Tex82.Texcontrib.Sauter]
[Public.Mffiles]
I also have RNOtoTEX, and append it to this message; perhaps Peter would
kindly extract it into the archive (I can't find it there already, Peter).
The file is a VAX/VMS DCL procedure, which creates all the needed files;
after elaborating the umbrella file, elaborate "Compile_RNOtoTeX.Com",
followed by "Link_RNOtoTeX.Com", followed by "Setup.Com". The program
is documented in "RNOtoTeX_Guide.TeX", which is actually a LaTeX, not a TeX,
source.
-0-0-0-0-0-
C.NEILSON asked about the availability of MS/DOS version of TeX;
DOSTeX can be found in [Public.Pc.DosTeX]; SB08TEX can be found
in [Public.Pc]SB08TeX.Arc; MicroTeX is now called $\mu$\TeX, and
is available from ArborText; TurboTeX is available from the Kinch
Computer Company; PC-TeX is available from Personal TeX Inc.
Personal opinion: try SB08TeX; I use it and $\mu$\TeX interchangeably;
the first is free and the second costs money ! I also have, but no
longer use, DOSTeX, and have used, but don't have, PC-TeX.
** Phil.
-0-0-0-0-0-
+++Editor - The file Phil refers to is [public.vms]rno-to-tex.vmsshar
+++
---------------------------------
Date: 13-FEB-1989 18:10:27 GMT
From: PHYOKANE@CS8700.UCG.IE
Subject: Font useage on HP LaserJet+ type printers.
sender: hea"phyokane@cs8700.ucg.ie" <phyokane@cs8700.ucg.ie>
I have a modified version of Beebe's DVIJEP driver (via Joe Stoy's DVIHL8) which
drives a Centronics PP8 (DVIPP8). This may be of interest to people with other
LJ+ printers as I have now implemented font packing. This means that documents
with more than 32 TeX fonts and more than 16 TeX fonts per page can be
printed without having to send bitmaps for excess fonts. It should also handle
256 character fonts properly. There is a small reduction in output file size as
there are fewer font select commands required.
Initial experience is that documents of up to 25 pages using 16 TeX fonts are
printed using only 2 or 3 printer fonts.
Rather than try to keep track of printer fonts used on each page, I only use
16 of the 32 possible downloaded fonts (16 thru 32). This avoids the LJ+
restriction and allows fonts 0 thru 15 to be permanent fonts used by a pc
which accesses the same printer via a printer sharer.
The modifications are not enclosed in compiler conditionals, so this is not yet
a true member of Beebe's driver family. There are probably lots of bugs left,
so I will not submit it to the archive yet. If anyone is interested, I can mail
them the changed source files.
---------------------------------
Date: 14-FEB-1989 14:42:21 GMT
From: CENSWM@UK.AC.HW.VAXB
Subject: Postscript.
To all you Postscript experts out there!
Why is it when I send a postscript print file from MS Word to our LN03R
postscript printer on a VAX it does not print. I thought Postscript was
`standard' and would work on any postscript machine (no doubt I am being
optimistic). I would be gratefull for any info as to where the problem
lies.
Stuart Munn
---------------------------------
Date: 14-FEB-1989 16:04:20 GMT
From: CENSWM@UK.AC.HW.VAXB
Subject: DvitoVdu
Are there any better versions of DvitoVDU available, that support Tektronix
41xx series of terminals? I understand that T4010 emulations are not feasible
as you cant have a text area using t4010.
I would even consider buying such a product! as our users are moaning about
poor previewing on our VAX
Stuart Munn
---------------------------------
Received: from UKACRL by UK.AC.RL.IB (Mailer X1.25) with BSMTP id 0482; Wed, 15
Feb 89 11:34:28 GM
Received: from GRPATVX1.BITNET (SYSTEM) by UKACRL.BITNET (Mailer X1.25) with
BSMTP id 7825; Wed, 15 Feb 89 11:34:28 G
Sender: ITYMAIL Mailer <SYSTEM@EARN.GRPATVX1>
Date: 14 Feb 89 16:36:39 EDT
From: "Stefanos P. Manganaris" <MANGANAR@EARN.GRPATVX1>
Subject: GF-to-PK change file for VAX/VMS wanted...
TeX friends,
I'm looking for the change file of GFtoPK utility for VAX/VMS. I would greatly
appreciate it, if someone could send it to me. Use mail if possible, or
sendfile if you are on BITNET...
Many thanks,
Stef.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Stefanos MANGANARIS | BITNET: SMANG@GRPATVX1 |
| (System Programmer) | UUCP: ...!mcvax!ermhs!stefanos |
| Computer Technology Institute, Greece | |
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 89 13:07:31 BST
From: Jon Warbrick <C20222@UK.AC.PLYMOUTH.PRIME-A>
Subject: Missing SliTeX Fonts
For some time I have wondered why my SliTeX slides come out looking a
little odd, but I have only just found out why. The standard
distribution of TeX for Primos does not include all of the font
magnifications required for SliTeX. As a result, when I printed my
slides characters of different sizes had to be substituted. In the
case of \tt font, I ended up with characters at \magstep 2 when I
needed \magstep 5! A quick(ish) run of METAFONT has now cured my
problems.
While this is fairly obvious, its probably worth mentioning in case
anyone else is having similar problems. SliTeX is used so rarely that
people may, like me, not have go around to investigating the problem.
As a result of my researches, I can tell you that the SliTeX
size-changing commands work as follows:
\LARGE selects 34pt type, using magstep 8
\Large " 29pt " 7
\large " 24pt " 6
\normalsize " 20pt " 5
\small " 17pt " 4
\footnotesize " 17pt " 4
\scriptsize " 17pt " 4
\tiny " 14pt " 3
\huge and \Huge are identical, and behave like \LARGE except
that in \rm they select 41pt type, using magstep 9.
SliTeX requires the following fonts/magnifications:
LCMSS8 and ILCMSS8 at magstep 3 upto magstep 9
LCMSSI8 and ILCMSSI8 3 8
LCMSSB8 and ILCMSSB8 3 8
CMMI8 and ICMI8 3 8
CMSY8 and ICMSY8 3 8
CMTT8 and ICMTT8 3 8
LASY8 and ILASY 3 8
CMEX10 and ICMEX10 3
LINE10, LINEW10 at magstep 1
CIRCLE10, CIRCLEW10 at magstep 1
I have a list of the fonts that need to be added to the Primos
implementation, if anyone wants them. Hope this is of some help.
Jon.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon Warbrick, Computing Service, Plymouth (0752) 221312
Plymouth Polytechnic, Drake Circus, Ext 5442
Plymouth PL4 8AA UK.
---------------------------------
Via: uk.ac.nottingham.ccc.vme; Thu, 16 Feb 89 17:26:40 GMT
(NMPA/19.302r)
Date: Thu,16 Feb 89 17:24:56 GMT
From: Dawn_Petherick@uk.ac.nottingham.ccc.vme
Subject: DVITTY
Message-ID: <16 Feb 89 17:24:56 A101BF@UK.AC.NOTT.VME>
When using DVITTY (for converting TeX DVI-files to a format suitable
for terminals and line-printers) we came across a problem with
page selection options -p and -P, they didn't work properly!
Trying to select pages 3:6 from a TeX-DVI file containing pages numbered 1 thru
8 produced no output at all, unless the first page in the range was page 1.
Selecting multiple ranges e.g. 1:3,6:8 only produced the first range (but again,
only if page 1 was the first page.)
After looking at the source of the main pascal program (dvitty.p) I found the
problem and include the solution here for anyone interested!
(I've also mailed DVITTY's author, Svante Lindahl and Pierre MacKay so that the
UnixTeX distribution tapes can be updated.)
The problem turned out to be in the function inlist, the correct version is:
function inlist(pagenr : integer) : boolean; {ret true if in list of pages}
begin
inlist:=false;
while (currentpage^.pag<0) and (currentpage^.pag<>pagenr)
and not currentpage^.all and (currentpage^.nxt<>nil) do
currentpage:=currentpage^.nxt;
if (currentpage^.all and (pagenr<currentpage^.pag))
or (currentpage^.pag=pagenr) then inlist:=true
else if pagenr>0 then begin
while (currentpage^.pag<>pagenr) and (currentpage^.nxt<>nil) do
currentpage:=currentpage^.nxt;
if currentpage^.pag=pagenr then inlist:=true
end;
currentpage:=firstpage; {bug correction by DP}
end; {inlist}
Dawn Petherick
Cripps Computing Centre
University of Nottingham
England
---------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 89 21:02:32 GMT
From: Hylton Boothroyd <bsrdp@uk.ac.warwick.cu>
Message-Id: <25619.8902162102@sol.warwick.ac.uk>
Subject: The aston.last30days files
I'm not sure what these are about, except for the occasional 300K versions
that I pick up.
I don't know how many of us call the last30 days list regularly, but I
would welcome some brief comment from you in uktex - that is, supposing you've
noticed it.
It may just possibly be that since I ask for the file once a week during
the night that I coincide with your overnight systems utilities doing their
job.
But since early December I seem to have picked up several very large
last-30-day files. The latest is 300K.
I had thought at first that it was simply a one-off re-organisation.
Then I thought you must be having second thoughts about the overall
directory structures and slopping the files around in great
quantities.
Then I began to notice that many of the lines that arrive here don't
have a complete [PUBLIC start but sometimes LIC and sometimes IC later
in the file which may possibly be line chopping in whatever compiles
the file. My imagination is quite strong - I thought at first that IC
meant that you had copied every TeX file from Imperial College and that
you were on the verge of having an Aston copy of every TeX installation
in the land.
Whatever it is, it provides a large haystack for needle-searching at
present!
Hylton
+++Editor - I had noticed the large number of blank lines at the beginning
of the file and someone is looking at that problem. The other errors should
be dealt with at the same time. The reason that it is so large is that
during the last 30 days the latest Washington tape has been loaded into the
archive. That is the reason for the current size of last30days.
It is not a fault with the overnight batch job. +++
---------------------------------
!!
!! Files of interest [public]000aston.readme
!! [public]000directory.list
!! [public]000directory_dates.list
!! [public]000directory.size
!! [public]000last30days.files
!!
!! Editor - I have a tape labelled TeX 2.95 LaTeX 2.09 Metafont 1.7
!! Unix 4.2/3BSD & System V. Tar 1600 bpi blocked
!! 20 1 file dated 30 January 1989 (from washington.edu).
!!
!! I have the facility to copy this tape for anyone who sends the following
!! 1 2400 tape with return labels AND RETURN postage.
!!
!! Send to
!!
!! P Abbott
!! Computing Service
!! Aston University
!! Aston Triangle
!! Birmingham B4 7ET
!!
!! A VMS backup of the archive requires 2 (two ) 2400' tapes at 6250bpi.
!! Remaining details as above.
!! Other tape options in the pipeline.
!!
!! Replies/submissions to info-tex@uk.ac.aston please
!! distribution changes to info-tex-request@uk.ac.aston please
!!
!! end of issue